At GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) we offer support to those seeking asylum in Gloucestershire, welcoming them when they arrive, advocating for them in their daily struggles, supporting them if they face being sent back as well as helping them adjust to their long term future if they are recognised as refugees.
Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS)
Telephone: 01452 550528
General enquiries: info@garas.org.uk
Administrative enquiries: admin@garas.org.uk
www.garas.org.uk
Director
Adele Owen
Here are some reflections written by one of the team on the work we do. There will be more popping up during the week. Look out for them, as we recognise Refugee Week.
Given the conference that has just ended in London, I thought I would tell you about some of the women I have worked with who have experienced such violence.
In the 2004/5 we worked with several women from the DRC. Of them 90% had experienced sexual violence, rape as a weapon of war. They are all memorable, but the one who haunts me still is the woman I sat with in a Gloucester police cell for many hours. She had been threatened with being returned and yet had been such a victim. She was in a terrible state because she had been held in a police cell in Kinshasa where she was gang raped.
A period in Yarlswood did nothing to help her self worth and after release she quietly disappeared as she couldn’t take the pressure any more.
I pray that somewhere she is safe.
Part time: 18 Hours a week
Salary: £21,067 pro rata NJC Scale 24
Location: GARAS Drop-in Centre – across Gloucester’s communities
Closing date: Monday 23rd June 2014
Interview date: To be confirmed
This one-year post aim is to co-ordinate and develop a more effective reporting and follow-up system for hate incidents through developing stronger relationships with communities at risk of hate incidents to increase confidence in reporting and to develop community reporting through a network of community groups around the county and to support these groups to raise awareness in schools and other appropriate settings.
This post is funded by The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Gloucestershire
Closing Date for Applications : 5pm on Monday 23rd June
Post is subject to Criminal records Bureau checks
For information and application please e-mail: info@garas.org.uk or call 01452 550528
If you have had enough of ‘giving something up for Lent’ such as chocolate or alcohol and fancy doing something different, we have just the thing for you! Why not take up the challenge of living on Asylum Support rates for the period of Lent this year? (From Wednesday 5th March, to Saturday 19th April 2014.) Asylum seekers who rely on support from the Home Office whilst their cases are being considered receive the following money per week:
A single person aged over 18 – £36.62
A couple (eg married couple/ in civil partnership) – £72.52
Lone parent aged 18 or over – £43.94
Teenager aged at least 16 but under 18 – £39.80
Child aged under 16 – £52.96
So, you can use this list to work out your or your family’s entitlement and set yourself a weekly budget. Please note that this does not include rents, utilities or council tax, so you don’t have to factor in these costs. But this does include/ you would need to use this money to pay for use of phones, food, clothing, toiletries and transport. If you give this a go, why not donate the money you have saved to GARAS? Cheques made payable to GARAS and can be sent to the office. Several of us here have done this over the past few years. It is a sobering experience and can be very thought provoking and insightful, particularly if you are used to having income at your disposal.
It may be a while since the tragic death of Jimmy Mubenga and subsequent enquiry. But, check out the following song about it:
http://onsind.bandcamp.com/track/ba77
Sadly it is not only off the UK shores that asylum seekers die, trying to find to find safety, as illustrated by the disheartening news from Australia.
Thank you to everyone who wrote to your MP concerning the motion for the Government to allow victims of the Syrian crisis to resettle in the UK. Whilst the Government has chosen not to participate in the UNHCR Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission of Syrian Refugees programme, they have agreed to help resettle some of the most vulnerable refugees, including women who are victims of sexual violence and torture and children. This is but a drop in the ocean, but will make a difference to those people’s lives. For more information please visit the Refugee Council website or BBC.